Any military man will tell you one benefit of military serviceis the camaraderie that extends beyond branch or battalion or rank.For three members of Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop M, it’s alsoa link in the workplace.

Sgt. Rusty Boyd, Lt. Gerald Wall, and Capt. Rusty Brill have allserved together not only in Troop M, but in the 155th BrigadeCombat Team. They were even activated together on Dec. 7, 1990during Operation Desert Storm.

“It’s the comradeship of military service that makes itworthwhile,” Wall said. “If you come in here and you’re a Marine,’Semper Fi’ is the secret password. But it is certainly the samehere in the highway patrol, because we’re all friends whether we’redown south or up in the north part of the state, and we’re going tolook out for each other.”

The men, who are three of Troop M’s eight military folk, alsoserve and protect here at home. They said serving together givesthem an understanding and a connection even within the halls ofTroop M’s headquarters on Highway 84.

Wall began in the Marine Corps, and is quick to remind hisfriends, “once a Marine, always a Marine.” Tuesday marked the 233rdbirthday of the Marine Corps, and Wall even sent e-mails signed,”semper fidelis,” instead of “sincerely.”

After serving in Vietnam with the Marines, Wall came home andwent to patrol school. During that time he became involved with theNational Guard, and he stayed in 21 years.

It was while he was serving as the sheriff of Amite County thatWall met Boyd in the National Guard.

“At that point I had been with the highway patrol, and then Iquit, and Rusty was actually a real highway patrolman,” Wall said,laughing. “It was the grace of the good Lord that got me back tohighway patrol.”

Boyd said he doesn’t really know how he ended up on the road hedid, but he feels like God’s hand was steering him as well. Hejoined the 155th out of Gloster, and it was the physicalconditioning he received from the military that drew the attentionof highway patrol recruiters.

“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” he said. “The lieutenantfor the district was living down there and there was a big earlyretirement in ’86, and they were hurting for men. I was in themilitary and in good shape, and I’d never thought about doingit.”

And the discipline and dedication from the military hastranslated every day in the patrol, the men said.

“Look at Rusty,” Wall said. “Nobody inspects to make sure he’sgot his uniform all together and his boots shined every day, but hehas the discipline to do it. A lot of this is very similar to thethings we learned to do in the military.”

Brill agreed that much of what he knows and the way he isprogrammed comes from his military experience.

“Both have rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts, and both havea definite chain of command,” said Brill, who incidentally is thetop of Troop M’s chain of command. “Both are very disciplined.”

The bond the men share, though, goes beyond just the disciplineand the training. Both the highway patrol and the time in militaryservice have emphasized the fact that it’s not a duty or a job topeople who love the work.

“It’s a calling,” said Brill. “In both, it’s really a desire toserve. We do it because we want to, not because we have to.”